Newest New Haven Environmental Advisory Council members focus on climate change

Published 7:57 pm, Sunday, September 11, 2016

Photo: Catherine Avalone/New Haven Register

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Henry Auer and Sarah Ganong discuss plans for the newly formed Environmental Advisory Council in New Haven, Thursday, September 8, 2016, on the New Haven Green at the corner of Chapel and Church Street.

Henry Auer and Sarah Ganong discuss plans for the newly formed Environmental Advisory Council in New Haven, Thursday, September 8, 2016, on the New Haven Green at the corner of Chapel and Church Street.

Photo: Catherine Avalone/New Haven Register

Newest New Haven Environmental Advisory Council members focus on climate change

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NEW HAVEN >> Henry Auer has been blogging about the threats of global warming since he retired from working in biotechnology patenting in 2010.

Now, he is bringing that awareness down to the local level.

“From my point of view, the awareness of the general population of the dangers of global warming are not appreciated,” Auer said.

And both are dedicated to educating the city more about climate change and climate activism.

“I’m excited to meet with residents where they are at,” in terms of their knowledge of climate change and things they want to see improved upon in terms of how the city manages its environmental impact, Ganong said.

Ganong is an active member of the New Haven Climate Movement and hopes the council can be another way she connects with city residents about ways to better manage the city’s environmental impact.

And the members of the council each bring their own expertise to the table, she said, which helps foster more constructive conversation and solutions.

“I’m most excited about the differing expertise and issues of focus,” she said.

But for the pair of newcomers to the council, climate change is at the forefront of their minds.

“The population at large is not aware of the problems of (global warming),” Auer said, adding that rising sea levels is no longer just a possibility, but eminent. “It’s worth shuddering about because these processes cannot be stopped.”

Auer said he likes to use the analogy of a frog sitting in a bowl of water to explain human experiences of climate change. A frog resting in a bowl of water that heats up gradually will barely notice the difference, he said. But, place a frog in a bowl of boiling water, and it’ll frantically try to escape.

Similarly, humans experience climate change too slowly to feel the urgency they should to stop it, he said.

Both Auer and Ganong said that the most important way they see for the council to be effective in providing answers and solutions to making New Haven greener is for city residents to attend meetings to share in conversation and ideas. Environmental Advisory Council meetings are open to the public and held on the first Wednesday of every month, 5 p.m. at City Hall.